Local authorities play key roles in the devolved government of Northern Ireland, as expressions of communities that were in the past highly polarised on religious and political lines. They are also the only other source of elected legitimacy to the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive (which have not been functioning for over a year and a half at the time of writing). Local councils can act as checks and balances on the domestic concentration of power. James Pow explores how democratically local councils have operated in difficult conditions.